Scribd
Upload
4 views2 pages

............................

Uploaded by

accnaydungveviecriengtu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
4 views2 pages

............................

Uploaded by

accnaydungveviecriengtu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Polymer architecture

Main article: Polymer architecture

Branch point in a polymer

An important microstructural feature of a polymer is its architecture and shape, which relates to the
way branch points lead to a deviation from a simple linear chain.[25] A branched polymer molecule is
composed of a main chain with one or more substituent side chains or branches. Types of branched
polymers include star polymers, comb polymers, polymer brushes, dendronized polymers, ladder
polymers, and dendrimers.[25] There exist also two-dimensional polymers (2DP) which are composed
of topologically planar repeat units. A polymer's architecture affects many of its physical properties
including solution viscosity, melt viscosity, solubility in various solvents, glass-transition temperature
and the size of individual polymer coils in solution. A variety of techniques may be employed for the
synthesis of a polymeric material with a range of architectures, for example living polymerization.

Chain length

A common means of expressing the length of a chain is the degree of polymerization, which quantifies
the number of monomers incorporated into the chain.[26][27] As with other molecules, a polymer's size
may also be expressed in terms of molecular weight. Since synthetic polymerization techniques
typically yield a statistical distribution of chain lengths, the molecular weight is expressed in terms of
weighted averages. The number-average molecular weight (Mn) and weight-average molecular
weight (Mw) are most commonly reported.[28][29] The ratio of these two values (Mw / Mn) is
the dispersity (Đ), which is commonly used to express the width of the molecular weight distribution.
[30]

The physical properties[31] of polymer strongly depend on the length (or equivalently, the molecular
weight) of the polymer chain.[32] One important example of the physical consequences of the
molecular weight is the scaling of the viscosity (resistance to flow) in the melt.[33] The influence of the
weight-average molecular weight () on the melt viscosity () depends on whether the polymer is above
or below the onset of entanglements. Below the entanglement molecular weight[clarification needed], ,
whereas above the entanglement molecular weight, . In the latter case, increasing the polymer chain
length 10-fold would increase the viscosity over 1000 times.[34][page needed] Increasing chain length
furthermore tends to decrease chain mobility, increase strength and toughness, and increase the
glass-transition temperature (Tg).[35] This is a result of the increase in chain interactions such as van
der Waals attractions and entanglements that come with increased chain length.[36][37] These
interactions tend to fix the individual chains more strongly in position and resist deformations and
matrix breakup, both at higher stresses and higher temperatures.

Monomer arrangement in copolymers

Main article: Copolymer

Copolymers are classified either as statistical copolymers, alternating copolymers, block copolymers,
graft copolymers or gradient copolymers. In the schematic figure below, Ⓐ and Ⓑ symbolize the
two repeat units.
Random copolymer Gradient copolymer

Graft copolymer
Alternating copolymer Block copolymer

 Alternating copolymers possess two regularly alternating monomer residues:[38] (AB)


n. An example is the equimolar copolymer of styrene and maleic anhydride formed by free-

radical chain-growth polymerization.[39] A step-growth copolymer such as Nylon 66 can also


be considered a strictly alternating copolymer of diamine and diacid residues, but is often
described as a homopolymer with the dimeric residue of one amine and one acid as a repeat
unit.[40]

 Periodic copolymers have more than two species of monomer units in a regular sequence.[41]

 Statistical copolymers have monomer residues arranged according to a statistical rule. A


statistical copolymer in which the probability of finding a particular type of monomer residue
at a particular point in the chain is independent of the types of surrounding monomer residue
may be referred to as a truly random copolymer.[42][43] For example, the chain-growth
copolymer of vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate is random.[39]

 Block copolymers have long sequences of different monomer units.[39][40] Polymers with two or
three blocks of two distinct chemical species (e.g., A and B) are called diblock copolymers and
triblock copolymers, respectively. Polymers with three blocks, each of a different chemical
species (e.g., A, B, and C) are termed triblock terpolymers.

 Graft or grafted copolymers contain side chains or branches whose repeat units have a
different composition or configuration than the main chain.[40] The branches are added on to a
preformed main chain macromolecule.[39]

Monomers within a copolymer may be organized along the backbone in a variety of ways. A
copolymer containing a controlled arrangement of monomers is called a sequence-controlled polymer.
[44]
Alternating, periodic and block copolymers are simple examples of sequence-controlled polymers.

You might also like